COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
APPEALS COURT
No. [20xx-P-xxxx]
[Lower Court County], ss.
[Plaintiff Name(s)], [Appellant or Appellee]
V.
[Defendant Name(s)], [Appellee or Appellant]
On Appeal From [Lower Court]
[Appellant's/Appellee's/Reply] Brief for [Party Name(s)]
Date: [mm/dd/yyyy] [Name of Filer]
[123 Filer's St.]
[Filer's City, MA, 01234]
[BBO #555555 / Pro Se]
[(617)555-5555]
[
TABLE OF CONTENTS
[You can right-click on this table of contents and select "update field" to automatically fill in the headings and page numbers. ]
Table of authorities 3
Statement of Issues 4
Statement of the Case 4
Statement of the Facts 4
Summary of the Argument 5
Argument 5
[Subheading] 6
Conclusion 6
Addendum 7
Certificate of Compliance 10
Certificate of Service 11
Table of authorities
[The below are included as examples of the format, replace them with the authorities that you cite in your brief]
Cases:
Matthews v. Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.,
426 Mass. 122 (1997)...... 5
Ferrari v. Toto, 9 Mass. App. Ct. 483 (1980).....13,17
Constitutional Provisions:
U.S. Const. Amend. XIV...... 8
Statutory Provisions:
G.L. c. 106, § 3-301...... 15
Other Authorities:
Mass. G. Evid. § 502(b)...... 19
Statement of Issues
[Identify the issues raised in the brief and discussed in the argument section. The statement of issues is the first page of the substantive portion of your brief for purposes of the 50 page limit. The appellee’s brief is not required to contain a statement of issues unless the appellee is dissatisfied with the statement in the appellant's brief.]
Statement of the Case
[Include the relevant procedural history of what happened in the lower court in your case. Include page references to the record appendix that support your statements. The appellee’s brief is not required to contain a statement of the case unless the appellee is dissatisfied with the statement in the appellant's brief.]
Statement of the Facts
[Include a description of the relevant facts of your case. Importantly, every fact included in this statement must have support in the record appendix and must be followed by a page reference to the appendix or transcript where that fact appears. Cite the Record Appendix as "R.A." if one volume, or "R.A.I", "R.A.II", (etc.) for multiple volumes. Cite the transcript as "T." or if there are separate volumes, make it clear which volume and page you are referencing, "T. Vol.I at 67" or "T. Vol.II at 22". Include specific page numbers. For example: "On January 3, 2016, at 8:00 AM, the witness saw a blue Honda minivan drive through a stop sign. R.A.I 16."
The appellee’s brief is not required to contain a statement of the facts unless the appellee is dissatisfied with the statement in the appellant's brief.]
Summary of the Argument
[If your argument section that follows is longer than 24 pages, you must include a summary of the arguments made later in the brief, with page references to the pages at which each argument appears in the brief.]
Argument
[This section contains the legal argument that supports the issues you are raising on appeal. Your legal argument must be supported by legal authority such as appellate case law, statutes, and/or regulations. You must use official case citations and citations to Massachusetts Reports (either Mass. or Mass. App. Ct.) and not regional digests such as N.E.2d. For example, use Parr v. Rosenthal, 475 Mass. 368 (2016), not Parr v. Rosenthal, 57 N.E.3d 947 (2016). If you are citing to a constitutional provision, statute, or regulation as authority in support of your legal arguments, you must include a copy of that document in the addendum to the brief. This is referred to as the brief's addendum.]
[Subheading]
[If you use the "heading" styles in Word to identify your arguments, then the table of contents will automatically include any subheadings you create when you update it.]
Conclusion
[Include a concise statement of the relief that you are asking the court to give you. The conclusion is the last substantive part of your brief for purposes of the 50 page limit.]
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ [Filer's Name Here]
______
[Name of Filer]
[123 Filer's St.]
[Filer's City, MA, 01234]
[BBO #555555 / Pro Se]
[(617)555-5555]
[
Date: [mm/dd/yyyy]
Addendum
[The addendum is attached to the end of your brief and must include copies of any statutes, rules, regulations, or local ordinances that you refer to in your brief. It must also contain a copy of the order, judgment or decree that you are appealing. The addendum does not count toward the 50 page limit. The addendum is separate from the record appendix, which will also include a copy of the order, judgment or decree that you are appealing, in addition to other relevant documents from the trial court record that you wish to bring to the court's attention in your appeal. A sample appendix also appears on the same page on the court's website as this sample brief.]
[Superior Court judge's memorandum of decision and order on summary judgment dated June 13, 2016...... 8]
[M.G.L. c.106, § 3-301...... 9]
[Attach copies of the materials and number their pages to coincide with your Addendum's table of contents.
[The addendum contains copies of cited statutes. This section is included as an example.
G.L. c.106, § 3-301: Person Entitled to Enforce Instrument
Section 3-301. "Person entitled to enforce" an instrument means (i) the holder of the instrument, (ii) a nonholder in possession of the instrument who has the rights of a holder, or (iii) a person not in possession of the instrument who is entitled to enforce the instrument pursuant to section 3-309 or subsection (d) of section 3-418. A person may be a person entitled to enforce the instrument even though the person is not the owner of the instrument or is in wrongful possession of the instrument.]
Certificate of Compliance
I hereby certify, under the pains and penalties of perjury, that this brief complies with the Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure that pertain to the filing of briefs and appendices, including, but not limited to:
Rule 16(a)(6) (pertinent findings or memorandum of decision);
Rule 16(e) (references to the record);
Rule 16(f) (reproduction of statutes, rules, regulations);
Rule 16(h) (length of briefs);
Rule 18 (appendix to the briefs); and
Rule 20 (typesize, margins, and form of briefs and appendices).
/s/ [Filer's Name Here]
______
[Name of Filer]
[123 Filer's St.]
[Filer's City, MA, 01234]
[BBO #555555 / Pro Se]
[(617)555-5555]
[
Date: [mm/dd/yyyy]
Certificate of Service
Pursuant to Mass.R.A.P. 13(d), I hereby certify, under the penalties of perjury, that on [DATE], I have made service of this Brief [and Appendix] upon the attorney of record for each party, or if the party has no attorney then I made service directly to the self-represented party, by [hand delivery / U.S. Mail / the Electronic Filing System] on:
[Name of Other Party]
[123 Opposing Party St.]
[Opponent City, MA, 01234]
[BBO #555555 / Pro Se]
[(617)555-5555]
[
/s/ [Filer's Name Here]
______
[Name of Filer]
[123 Filer's St.]
[Filer's City, MA, 01234]
[BBO #555555 / Pro Se]
[(617)555-5555]
[
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